Former Toronto Waterfront marathon champion Laban Korir will be chasing another title when he lines up at the Enschede NN Mission Marathon on Sunday.
Korir, who will be chasing the title alongside Olympic Marathon and world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge said he has prepared well for the title despite the race being postponed from April 11th to 18th.
At the same time, the race was moved 300m apart, from Hamburg in Germany to Enschede in the Netherlands following the third wave of coronavirus.
On Tuesday, NN Mission Marathon announced that the race, which was initially slated for April 11th in Hamburg, Germany was pushed to 18th.
“NN Mission Marathon will go ahead as planned on April 18 and will be moved from Hamburg to Enschede, The Netherlands, on the specially designed course on Twente Airport which will be closed for general audience.”
Korir said he will be facing off with his training mates at the race hoping to get better results.
“Am not affected in any way since I have been training in preparations for the race. Even if it has been postponed and moved 300k apart in different countries, my aim, just like any runner has been preparing and has a chance to prosper,” said Korir in Eldoret.
Well known for road running, Korir won the 2014 Toronto marathon timing 2:08.15 will face Kipchoge, Jonathan Korir, and Augustine Choge among others in the battle of titans.
“The competition is expected to be tough and good after our training. As training mates, we will need team work for us to secure good results for team Kenya,” said Korir, who competed for Kenya at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in marathon, where he finished a disappointing 11th.
He added that he has been covering approximately 200km a week to keep him fit for the race that has attracted world beaters after enjoying a 2:05.54 in the marathon set at the 2016 Amsterdam marathon.
“I normally train between 18km – 20km a day in the morning and 10km in the evening. During long runs, we train for 40km a day and that translates to about 200km a week, which is a good endurance for marathoners,” added Korir, the 2011 Amsterdam marathon silver medalist who lost the title to Wilson Chebet.
The athletes will be paced by Barcelona half marathon champion Victor Chumo, Gideon Kipketer, Noah Kipkemboi, Philemon Kacheran, two time Toronto marathon winner Philemon Rono, Alex Kibarus, Jackson Kiprop, Moses Koech, Sylvester Kiptoo and Bernard Cheptoch.